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This episode left a bitter feeling in my mind. Trip got shafted in a 1 on 1 battle in the league. I liked him and Serperior here and they did good in the battle but god forbid that Ash loses early in a League we know he won't win anyway.

"Mission: Defeat Your Rival!"

This episode picked up where the last episode left off. Trip's Sereperior kept getting the upper hand on Ash's Pikachu in the battle. At one point, it squeezed Pikachu so hard that it started to turn Purple. Seeing this, Ash remembered all the times he lost to Trip.

When Serperior tried to slam Pikachu on the ground, Ash told him to use Iron Tail on the ground to protect himself. Pikachu smashed Iron Tail on the ground and it caused Serperior to release Pikachu from it's strong grip. Once Pikachu was free, Ash told him to use a Iron Tail/Electro Ball combo on Pikachu! After being hit by Pikachu's Iron Tail/Electro Ball combo attack, Trip's Serperior fainted from the impact, making Ash and Pikachu the winner!! Man, I'm glad Ash finally defeated his most OP Unova rival.

The next day, Bianca was up against (the annoying)Cameron! After Bianca's Escavalier got defeated by Cameron's Samurott, she sent out her powerhouse Pokémon......Emboar. It was surprising when Bianca told Emboar to use Attarct on Samurott, I didn't see that coming.

Emboar was able to defeat Samurott, but Cameron's next Pokémon was his OP Riolu. The battle between Cameron's (OP)Riolu and Bianca's Emboar was a huge disappointment. I hated how that Riolu defeated Emboar, making Cameron the winner and making poor Bianca cry. It's true that Bianca can be clumsy sometimes, but she didn't deserve to lose like that....espacially to a kid like Cameron.

Overall, this was an OK episode. I'm glad Ash finally defeated his OP rival Trip, but I am not fully satisfied with an one-on-one battle. It seemed like the writers were trying to make up for the terrible Pikachu vs. Snivy battle in BW001 by making their final battle an one-on-one battle. A full battle between Ash and Trip would've better. Oh Well, at least Ash and Trip's rivalry finally ended, their rivalry was terrible throughout the BW saga.

Cameron and Bianca's battle was just stupid! I didn't like seeing him beating her in the battle and making her cry like that. *Sigh*....If it wasn't for Ash, he wouldn't be in the league.

Tbh I don't think it was a smart idea to take Trip out in the prelims regardless at how hateful people are towards him. Trip's early exit was poorly handled and slimmed Ash's chances of lasting longer then Top 8. Plus Ash and Pikachu's display was pretty poor overall, I mean he was at Trip's mercy and basically won through a combination of luck and Serperior's moveset conveniently becoming weaker since the Junior Cup.

If this were the real world, Pikachu would be dead right now, not just fainted.

I really hate to sound harsh towards a fictional cartoon person, but letting Pikachu get squeezed that hard sort of makes Ash looks irresponsible as a trainer. I mean, he's letting his Pokemon get seriously hurt, borderline even a worse fate than that.

But yet, I'm not super angry, because, like I said, it's just a cartoon, It's fiction. These are fictional creatures in a a fictional world where, more often than not, the rules of the real world don't really apply. It was just something I wanted to say in the heat of the moment.

The Pikachu vs Serperior battle was quite intense. Didn't like the part where Serperior was squeezing Pikachu. It was a little bit too graphic. Pikachu was visibly struggling to breath at one point and his ears had gone purple. That's certainly more graphic and violent than anything the anime has showcased up to this point in the series. As a Pikachu lover it was certainly difficult to watch. Ash certainly seemed distressed about it. However Pikachu won the battle and won it convincingly. Ash came up with a clever idea to get his best friend out a pickle. That certainly shocked Trip. Personally I'm glad that Trip lost to Ash in the preliminary rounds. He spent the entire series looking down at Ash, insulting his home region and giving him several crushing defeats so I think he deserved to loose like this. Ash preformed exceptionally well being able to come up with a strategy to get Pikachu out of trouble like that. That is one good thing about the Unova region. Most of the rivals have been friendly and the one who isn't more or less gets some sort of comeuppance. Trip can't look down at Ash now after being completely wiped out in the qualifying rounds while Ash goes on to be in the Top 8. The sauna scenes were interesting to say the least. I liked Ash and Cameron bonding and the the way Cameron sort of leans in close to Ash and put's his arm on his shoulder though Ash's comment "It's getting hot in here," has odd implications for a children's show. Oshawott, Riolu and Pikachu were funny though. Especially when Oshawott gets shocked. It's a pity there weren't more scenes with Riolu.

Last edited by Pikachu52; 16th February 2015 at 6:54 AM.

This is a story about Ash Ketchum and his loving partner Pikachu. These two share a bond far beyond that of ordinary pokemon and trainer. Together they pursue Ash's dream to be pokemon master and make friends with many different people and pokemon along the way. He and Pikachu train everyday to make this happen to fulfill their dream. But the path to victory is lined with danger. There are many challenges ahead for this couple. Ones that will make them see the world in a new light.

I actually hate it when the animators make battles look this brutal. I thought it was quite disgusting to see Pikachu's breathing clearly being interfered with as Serperior was crushing him. IMO, battles in the anime need more regulations. There should be some attacks and strategies that are considered illegal in the anime-universe. I can think of plenty of moves from the games that shouldn't be showcased in the anime, and Trip used one of them.

It also kind of ruined the mood. My mindset switched from "Is Ash going to win?" to "Wtf, is Trip trying to kill Pikachu?". That's not how you effectively build dramatic tension. I'm supposed to care about who will win the battle, not the methods being used.

----

As for the result, I couldn't care less that Trip lost in the preliminaries, because the writers never put any effort into making Trip interesting. A lackluster ending is fitting for a lackluster rival. They also didn't keep Trip's strength consistent, which made his battles boring to watch. It's best to get his battle over with quickly since it's the least interesting.